ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Black Friday

Wednesday

Nov 27, 2013 at 12:01 AMNov 27, 2013 at 9:23 PM

I will freely admit that I have never – not once – gone shopping on Black Friday. It’s a streak I plan to keep unbroken. There is not enough money on this earth to make me stand in line in the cold waiting for a store to open so I can have the privilege of fighting other people for stuff I don’t really need. So, yeah, I’ll pass.

“Black Friday should actually be called The Hunger Games. People kill each other and the winner gets a $20 crock pot.” ~ Unknown

I will freely admit that I have never – not once – gone shopping on Black Friday. It’s a streak I plan to keep unbroken. There is not enough money on this earth to make me stand in line in the cold waiting for a store to open so I can have the privilege of fighting other people for stuff I don’t really need. So, yeah, I’ll pass.

I remember when I found out that people would actually get out of bed to be in a line at 5 a.m. How cute, I thought, that they are willing to stand in the cold for their loved ones, while I stayed in my nice warm cozy bed dreaming about the drugstore perfume I could be giving out on Christmas.

Then they started getting up at 3 a.m. Determined, I thought, that they are willing to stand in the cold, while sleep deprived, for their loved ones, while I stayed in my warm cozy bed dreaming about the home-made treats I could be giving out on Christmas.

Then, they started going out at midnight. Nuts, I thought, that they are willing to stand in the cold, without any sleep, for their loved ones, while I stayed in my warm cozy bed dreaming about not being cold and sleep deprived.

This year, though, eight stores are opening on Thanksgiving. Let that sink in for a moment. Eight stores have decided that it will be a good business strategy to open on Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving, the one day of the year set aside for us to give thanks for all we have, is being elbowed out of the way by corporate greed.

Um, OK. It seems wrong to me, but whatever. For all the articles and the Facebook posts about vowing not to shop on Thanksgiving Day, I’ll put cash money down and say that the stores that open on Thanksgiving will be rewarded, thereby setting this up as a yearly event. I’ll even venture a guess that it won’t be too far in the future that they’ll decide to open for the entire day. I’m sure some marketing genius will float the idea that they should just stay open for the full four days that weekend.

One of the first jobs I had was working at the Sack Cherie, a movie theater in Boston. Most of the employees were high school and college students, and I don’t think any of us had kids, so working that day was never a big deal. In fact, I worked every Thanksgiving Day. It was a busy shift, since there was nothing else for people to do after food and football since the movies were the only things open. After work we all went out for a few laughs.

My point – and I do have one – is that we’ve lost the meaning of holidays. I’m not talking about the religious aspect, I’m talking about holiday in the sense of being able to pause for a moment and enjoy the simple act of being quiet. Taking time off does not make us lazy. I would argue that time off is necessary for it affords us the opportunity to recharge. It gives us the occasion to smell the flowers we are working so hard to grow. It’s a moment to catch our breath before charging once more unto the breach.

If you’re one of the die-hard Black Friday shoppers, more power to you. Hopefully, you can limit your bargain-hunting to the day after Thanksgiving and send a message to these retailers that enough is enough. However, if you can’t manage to keep yourself away, at least have the decency to apologize to the worker who is mandated to work, thereby missing time with their loved ones so you can save a buck or two. They are the ones bearing the brunt of these policies.

If we refuse to shop, the stores will stop opening and, maybe, just maybe, our friends in retail can have a happy Thanksgiving as well.

I’d like to close by issuing a challenge: Make Thanksgiving a daily habit rather than a special occasion. Offering thanks doesn’t have to be fancy or formal. Engage in a moment of silent meditation or a heartfelt prayer. Tell someone that they matter to you and that you appreciate what they bring to the world. Pick up some litter. Buy a few extra things at the grocery store and drop them off at the food bank. Every small kindness you put out in the world will come back to you and you’ll have the privilege of making the world a better place.

Remember, Thanksgiving is about people and places, not things.

Barbara Mulvey-Welsh is a mother, writer and blogger who splits her time between Plymouth and Jamaica Plain. She and her husband are raising two amazing teens, a charming Boston Terrier named Felix and the ever delightful Bootsie the cat. Check out her blog – "Did I Say That Out Loud?" – at barbaramulveywelsh.blogspot.com and follow her on Twitter @bmulveywelsh.

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